


A-lister and a Geek

by Vacantuser



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Investigations, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2020-09-19 06:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20326783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vacantuser/pseuds/Vacantuser
Summary: Star and Mickey want to find out what's going on in town and why it all seems to be connected to Danny. Followed clues leads to wrong assumptions and they decide to follow him and try to keep him safe.OrThey assume wrong and give Danny more to stress over





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is in Mickey's pov. This is also on fanfiction.net, but this one is more detailed for now. I won't update the fanfiction one until the next chapter is written out.

I watch her cry, I have been for a while now unsure of what I should do. I would comfort her, but I'm just a geek and she's an A-lister and a geek should never approach an A-lister, but no one is around. Who would even know about it? I would and she would, but would she tell anyone? I might get beat up if a football player found out. Thinking about it so long gave my heart the chance to decide. Despite all logic, compassion and worry blow up in my body, sending me flying in her direction like a hot air balloon. I tentatively approach my popular peer. Going against the social status is dangerous, but lately, Danny Fenton and Tucker Foley have been spotted approaching some of the A-Listers while still being picked on by Dash and Paulina. Maybe that's what is preventing me from hiding again, shrinking away from any possibility of being shoved into a locker. My body language screams a cry of anxiousness, my shoulders slumped and my body slouched, still, I approach her and cautiously sit next to her slightly shaking form.

"Are you ok?" I ask, awkwardly placing my hand on her shoulder, wincing at my own action even though she hardly reacts to it, only glancing to see who was touching her. She actually seemed somewhat relieved. Probably because I'm not an A-lister and won't belittle her for having feelings. Or maybe it's simply because no one believes me if I said I saw her crying, especially if I brought up the fact that I spoke to her.

She looks away and mutters, "I'm fine." Her tone was broken, her usual joy broken into shards that were forcing their way out her fragile throat, scratching it on the way out. Before today, I didn't really think that I would care if I ever saw an A-Lister crying, but now it's actually very disheartening to hear her so emotionally broken. I sure hope her reason for being upset is something not involving fashion or makeup because that might break my sympathy for an A-Lister in the future. I don't want to be disassociated from other's feelings, I want to be able to care when I see someone upset. I want to have encouragement from past experiences to step up and help.

"No, you're not. I can tell. Let me help you." I hoped the sincerity in my tone was enough to convince her to forget about the social status surrounding us for long enough to open up to me and ask for help. I know that she thinks that I have no reason to be here, no reason to risk getting beaten up just to see if she's ok. If I'm being honest, she would be right. I've seen Danny stepping up lately, acting like a hero to us geeks from time to time or helping out with ghosts on those very rare occasions where Phantom or his parents fail to arrive on time. I want to be like him, to be someone who helps. I'm not brave enough to fight a ghost, but I am more than willing to help spread my humanity with other people in need of compassion.

"What could you possibly do to help?" She demands.

"I can be here for you," I state. She likely thinks I'm insane for suggesting it even if it is such a simple concept. I'm a human who can emotionally support another human for no other reason than to support another human because we are humans and we have feelings. Being human, that's what sets us apart from the dead in this town. We should be embracing our human aspects, like empathy and sympathy, instead of shoving them down a dark hole and burying them to never be found again. I don't understand why more people chose to ignore their humanity compared to those who wholeheartedly accept it and their morals. I guess that might be a hard concept to grasp if the only people you ever associate positively with is a bunch of self-absorbed jerks who are willing to blacklist their own friend in a heartbeat the second they lose all of their money. it's definitely not like Valerie's life was completely uprooted and she was in desperate need of support or anything. Honestly, if it had been any other A-Lister crying here, I would have walked by without a second thought, it's not like they would allow me to help them or anything. I'm sure that would be against some code to let a geek see you at your lowest, but she's a bit different. She's somewhat known for sometimes breaking the A-Lister Code, she and Kwan both appear to have somewhat of a heart. Seeing that glimpse of humanity in their eyes gives me hope and pushes me to push her boundaries, longing to help someone as human as me.

"Why do you want to help me? All I've ever done is bully you!"

"I don't care about that. If you need help, I'm here for you." I know I'm probably pushing a boundary here, but I find it hard to care.

"I won't make you popular just because you help me." Does she really think that's why I'm helping her? I guess it does make sense, her other friends don't really seem to care about being morally correct.

"I don't care about popularity. I just want to help. What's wrong?" She looks at the ground, a look of utter defeat washing over her face.

"It's about school. I'm failing a lot of classes and my parents are getting upset. And all these ghosts suddenly showing up, it's insane! We're defenseless and these things attack us all the time! Someone is going to die someday!"

"No one is going to die as long as Danny Phantom is around and I can help you with your grades."

"But what happens when Ghost Boy isn't around? What if he's too late one day? And it's not just that, I feel like there's something big going on that we can't wrap our heads around!" Something big? I think I've noticed this, too. There's just something off about everything going on recently, but whenever I talk to my friends about it, they act like I'm crazy. It may be something big going on, but it only leaves behind small clues. I stare at her. I never thought someone so dumb could be so observative over anything but fashion. Maybe I shouldn't be judging her by the cover.

"I...feel it too. Maybe we can figure it out together?"

There's a moment of expected hesitation before she replies reluctantly. "Ok, but we can't be seen together at school. It'll ruin my reputation." I roll my eyes.

"Deal." We shake on it and she walks away as I watch her long hair sway behind her before leaving myself. I think back to all the weird things going on in town. The sudden weird behavior of my peers, all the ghosts showing up out of nowhere, it's all so weird. It's all connected somehow, but how? I have to figure it out, and I know just where to start looking. The kid that seems to be connected to it all somehow. The kid with ghost-hunting parents, Danny Fenton. He and his friends have been acting the weirdest out of everyone to the extent that he would be the first clue no matter what. They know something that no one else does, I'm sure of it. Looking up to him has really aided me in seeing his very unusual behavior recently. It's too much of a contrast from how he used to behave to mean nothing.

We meet up after school, her sneaking around and trying to hide who she's meeting up with making her look like a fool. She probably could have simply said I'm her tutor, it wouldn't really be wrong. Of course, it is the A-Lists that she's trying to hide our meet up from, maybe they aren't as forgiving about people needing tutors as they should be, or maybe they're just picky about who those tutors can be. I think Jazz used to tutor Dash, so maybe they need to find a decent looking person to tutor them instead of a straight-up geek.

"I've been thinking and I think I know where we can start. Danny Fenton seems to be connected to whatever is going on in our town. I'm going to ask him to join us for a tutor session," I say as soon as she's close enough to hear me. She immediately starts looking around for him. That's the problem with this kid, he's hard to find when you need him.

"Do you know where he is?" She asks.

"Well um no. I haven't seen him since the sixth period. He left halfway through the period." He seems to be leaving class a lot recently. Just another change of the normality of this town. It used to be normal for him to leave class maybe once a year, but now the normal thing is for him to leave at least once a day. I wonder what happened to prompt that change. "Do you think he might be depressed?"

"Or abused." I look up at her and she takes the hint to explain herself. "I've seen a lot of bruises on him recently. Dash isn't the one causing them, either." Now that I think about it, I have seen bruises littering his body and there were times he was limping, but I had always assumed it was Dash getting too comfortable with pushing him around.

"Do you think he let the ghosts out to get back at his abuser?" He does have access to the Fenton's portal and there are a lot of kids who snap when they've had enough. Letting ghosts out would be less traceable than shooting someone.

"Would he do that? I mean, I know I don't really know him because we don't hang out, but he always seemed like a nice kid. Would he put our entire town in danger just to get back at one person?" She asks and I sigh. Tragedy makes people act out in ways that they normally wouldn't and abuse would certainly qualify as a tragedy, even more so as it's hard to escape that tragedy.

"You do a lot of strange things when you're in danger." I notice movement out of the corner of my eyes and notice Danny walking by the dumpster, looking around. It almost seems like he's making sure a specific person isn't here. His eyes land on us and they widen in fear before glancing around quickly one last time before stopping on us yet again. We watch as he nervously makes his way over to us. It definitely seemed like he was avoiding someone.

"We were just looking for you!" Star greets and his expression goes from nervous to shocked. He probably wasn't used to anyone except for his friends and family to be looking for him. It makes sense, its what I'm used to as well. I would definitely be surprised if someone like Star was looking for me for some reason I didn't know.

"You were?" He asks. His tone suggests he's hiding something, as does his nervous body language.

"Yeah! Mikey is going to tutor me and, since your grades have been dropping, we thought you should join us!" She says, her voice cheery and inviting for once, but her tone doesn't stop him from wincing at her words.

"I wish I could, but I'm a bit busy at the moment. Maybe next time?" He suggests.

"Any time you need help, feel free to come to me," I say, hoping he takes me up on it so we can make sure he's safe.

"Thanks!" He says and turns to leave, but he pauses. "You haven't seen a ghost around here, have you?" He asks and we shake our heads.

"No, we haven't. Did one escape your parent's lab again?" I ask. Did his parents let it out? Did he?

"Yeah. I was trying to catch it," he says, holding a thermos up.

"Maybe you should let Ghost Boy or your parents take care of it," Star suggests.

"I was going to, but I'm already here, so I figured why not handle it myself? I mean, I am the son of ghost hunters and I have the tech for it. Why waste anyone's time when I can do it fairly efficiently?" I can feel the tension coming from him. He's definitely hiding something, but we don't say anything as he runs off.

"We should follow him to make sure he doesn't get hurt!" Star says and runs after him. I take off after her, but I'm not very athletic. She's already pretty far ahead of me and he's even farther ahead, somehow unaware of the two of us following him.

"Wait for me!" I wheeze.


	2. Chapter 2

MICKEY'S POV:

Danny rounds a corner and we're quick to follow him, but he's gone. It was like he ceased to exist or like something just came up and swallowed him.

"It's not like he could just disappear into thin air! Where could he have gone?" Star asks, exasperated. I shared her frustration. I've seen him disappear like this before and wasn't any closer to an answer on how than I was the first time I saw it. It's not like he's the Ghost Boy, he couldn't just disappear. Now, where could he have gone? Logic does often to fail when it comes to Danny Fenton. Every time I made a hypothesis about what was going on with him, it would be contradicted by something else he did soon after.

"When it comes to Danny I've learned scientific hypothesis won't get me any closer to an answer. I've seen him go around a corner and disappear before and I could never figure out how. I think it might be caused by some of his parents' technological advances." At Star's confused look, I dumb it down. "Danny disappears a lot. I think it's one of his parents' technology allowing him to do it." I wasn't one hundred percent sure, in fact, I wasn't really sure at all. I just wanted to throw my next hypothesis out vocally. Maybe Star will surprise me with some concrete evidence that either confirms it or disputes it.

"I don't think they've created anything that makes them disappear. They seem more focused on destroying everything." That's fairly concrete, but not enough. With the Fentons, weapons are the rule, but I've seen many exceptions. Far too many to rule anything out based on the 'Fenton technology is always a weapon' rule.  
"They do specialize in weapons, but they are also known to have made gadgets that do not break anything."

"Such as?" I could only think of one off the top of my head. I'm sure there were more, but this one was definitely the biggest non-weapon technology that they've showcased. It was also often used by Phantom. It was iconic Fenton Tech, possibly even more known than any one of their weapons.

"The Fenton Thermos, Ghost Shields, and, for Amity's sake, I hope more that have yet to be revealed to the public eye." I swear I've seen more, I just can't remember them. I think they made some sort of net at one point. There had to be more than that. I'm sure they kept anything unfinished hidden from the public eye, but there was always the possibility that they kept finished stuff secret, too.

"Jack can't even drive the RV without destroying half the town. I'm sure Danny just climbed up something or crawled through a hole." That was always a possibility, but it would be hard to do so that quickly. I look around to see if it was even a possibility at all. It didn't seem probable. There's no holes he could squeeze through and no foot holds to scale the walls.

"There's no hole and Danny isn't athletic enough to climb the wall. I doubt that even Sam could, " I counter. He might have hidden somewhere, but that, too, was highly unlikely. There was only a could of trashcans and I doubt he would het in one.

"Maybe the ghost grabbed him?" Star suggests. That might be the most probable thing she's said all day, but I still found a huge problem with it.

"Then why didn't we hear him scream?"

"He's used to ghosts."

"The Fentons taught us to scream for help if we ever saw a ghost, why wouldn't he do the same?" I question.

"Maybe because he doesn't care if he gets hurt or killed. It is common behavior exhibited by depressed teens. If he stopped caring about living, then he would not care if he got grabbed by some ghost." Depressed teens, did she really think he was suicidal? He always seemed happy to me. Still, I couldn't think of anything to dispute it. It would also explain why he was so quiet if he had been snatched by a ghost.

"You think he's suicidal?" I ask, not bothering to hide the worry in my voice. This was serious. Thinking, I add, " He does sometimes put himself in danger. He stands up to Dash more and even used to prank him. If he has the nerve to do that, who knows what else he has the courage to do? It might not be driven by mental illness, but instead false courage. If he has been hunting ghosts by himself with a high success rate, it might just be overconfidence." At least that sounded a bit better than the alternative.

"So he's either lost all will to live or he's overconfident by his success."

"Either way, he's in danger."

"We should probably go find him to make sure he doesn't get hurt."

"Where would we even begin to look?"

"I don't know. Fenton Works maybe?" What were the chances he just went home? Honestly, not great, but it was the best we could think of.

"Alright, let's start our search there. If he's not there, we'll check the Nasty Burger." She agreed that the plan sounded solid, so off we went to Amity's most avoided house. Everyone knew it was a ghost hotspot, after all. Of course, all of Amity was. It was certainly a bigger Jack Fenton hotspot than the rest of the town was, other than maybe the fudge stand. I, unfortunately, can't argue that it's a land that must be braved. For Danny! A loud voice almost makes the ground vibrate as Jack's excited screaming fills the air around the building. I couldn't even understand what he was saying, much less understood why he was so happy. I only knew that I had a massive headache forming.

"Mr. Fenton! Is Danny home?" Star calls out, picking up the pace when the large orange jumpsuit clad man steps onto the porch.

"Not yet, but he should be here shortly!" I can't help but groan as we turn around to head to the Nasty Burger. Since the A-listers are always there, we enter a few moments apart with her going in first. When I went in, I found her sitting with Kwan and some other football player. Dale, maybe? I wasn't really sure what his name was. Turning my attention to the rest of the restaurant, I find Tucker sitting with Jazz, Sam, and some younger girl with black hair that I've never seen before. I sit behind them so I can eavesdrop on them. It's not like I could sit anywhere else anyway. The only empty tables were the ones right by them. Most people do give Fentons space in case their parents gave them an invention that might explode. Sure, its only happened once, but it's still happened and there is still a probability that it could happen again. Even Dash gives Danny more space than he used to, but I have noticed that his bullying has gotten more severe to make up the difference.

"I can't believe you've never tried Nasty Burger before!" I hear Tucker exclaim in a loud whisper. While that certainly wasn't a statement that had to be kept a secret, it did sound like they were having a secret discussion. Otherwise, Tucker wouldn't bother keeping his voice down.

"I'm never in town long. I'm usually just here long enough to meet up with Danny and usually, it's just long enough to deal with Vlad. Where is Danny, anyways? This might be the only fun visit I make here! No offense, it's just kinda boring here, " the younger girl says. I must have sat down right behind her. She was a lot quieter than Tucker, but I could still hear her clearly.

"He'll be here soon, " Jazz says. Was Danny expected to be everywhere soon? Or did he lie to his dad?

"Of course Amity Park is boring for you! Haven't you been to Paris?" Tucker says, his voice getting lighter louder. A grunt from him lets me know Sam elbowed him to shut him up. Before he starts to grumble a complaint, the door opens as Danny walks in. His eyes survey the entire room even after he spots his friends. With a little wave, he makes his way over. While I'm not watching, I assume he squeezes in next to the younger girl and Jazz since there's more room on that side.

"Sorry, I'm late. I had to deal with Skulker first, " Danny says, his voice betraying that he actually squeezed in with Sam and Tucker. He really is a total mystery. Or I guess he might just be comfortable around them and not mind the tight squeeze. Wait, Skulker? Isn't that one of the powerful ghosts? Did he really take it down on his own? He must have gotten really lucky and quick with it. I doubt he would be able to avoid any attack from a ghost. He must have snuck up on it. That would make sense.

"You could have called us to come help." Jazz didn't sound all that worried. Her brother just risked his life to get a powerful ghost, she should be worried.

"It was just Skulker. He's easy to get. He was just angry because he and Ember are arguing again. Apparently Kitty and Ember both decided to start an argument and go have a girl's day somewhere, so we should probably keep an eye out for that and Johnny." Is Skulker not the hunting ghost? There's far too many to keep track of. Honestly, it seems like Danny keeps better track than his parents do if what he just said is anything to go by. Skulker must be that box ghost. That one definitely seems easy to beat if you know what you're doing and have the right gear.

"So, now comes the most important discussion of the night," the younger girl says in a serious tone. I need to hear this.

"Right, the decider of the night. The choice we make will drastically change our lives," Tucker adds. Change their lives? How serious is this?

"So, what will it be? Ghost in the Night or Boogeyman Avenue?" Old horror movies? That's the choice of the night that will drastically change their lives?

"I've had enough ghosts for tonight," Danny groans.

"Boogeyman Avenue it is!"

"Let's watch it at Sam's house, she has the best set up."

"I promised my dad we would watch it at my house. I've missed too many curfews already. If I miss any more for any reason, I'm in serious trouble." They all makes sounds of agreement, unanimously deciding to switch locations before they all get up to leave. I get up and follow them out, a bit too closely I guess since Danny turns to look at me. "I thought you and Star were having a study session?" I freeze in place, unsure how to answer.

"We are! I just had to get something from Kwan before we could start. Mikey probably just wanted to double check if you could join us." I give a hopefully inconspicuous sigh of relief as Star steps up next to me.

"No thanks. Next time, though. Just give me some warning beforehand. My cousin doesn't come to town often and I'd rather spend time with her." At the lack of a response, he turns back around. I can hear Sam asking about it, but Danny just shrugs.

"Should we follow him?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the made up movie names had italics when I wrote them. Just like spaces between lines, those have been lost to copy-paste. Unlike the spaces between lines, it's remaining a casualty.


End file.
